Data centers house large numbers of electronic equipment, such as computers and storage devices. Such data centers can span from a single room to multiple floors of an entire building. Servers are often stacked in rack cabinets that are placed in rows forming corridors so technicians can access the rear of each cabinet. Mainframe computers and other storage devices are often placed near the servers and can occupy spaces as large as the racks themselves.
Data centers and other networking-infrastructures have enormous numbers of cable and wires connecting various electronic equipment. Even though such facilities are highly organized, the number of cables interconnecting such equipment can be overwhelming. Installing, maintaining, and tracking cables and connections to equipment can be complex. For instance, technicians need to know which cable connects to which piece of equipment. Further, if a cable becomes degraded or experiences a critical failure, then this cable needs to be readily identified.
In order to effectively manage a data center or other facility with large amounts of electronic equipment, sufficient information about cables, connections, and electronic equipment is required.